Philo

Last modified: February 13, 2019

By Stephen Lovely

In a market full of exciting skinny bundle options, Philo stands out for being just a little different from the others. What is Philo? Well, it's a live TV streaming service, for sure. But, unlike competitors like Sling TV and DirecTV Now, Philo deliberately excludes cable news networks, local news stations, and sports nets from their channel line-up. That's because those particular channels account for a disproportionately large part of the expense that comes with a pay TV service. Since Philo is skipping the pricier channels, it can offer the channels it does have for a whole lot less than the competition tends to charge. Philo is carving out a niche for itself in the budget streaming space, and it's certainly worth looking at if you're interested in an affordable live TV solution. Below, we'll law out everything that you need to know about Philo, including how to get a Philo free trial, what channels Philo has, how to cancel Philo, and more.

What Channels Are on Philo?

Philo's low price is due to the channels that it doesn't have: local stations, cable news networks, and sports channels. That's a significant thing. Most options on the skinny bundle market offer ESPN, ESPN2, FS1, FS2, NBCSN, and even regional sports networks. Most offer at least a few of the major networks (ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC), with live local feeds in select areas. And most offer CNN and, sometimes, other cable news networks. Philo, by contrast, has none of these.

But we knew that already, of course: that's the whole point of Philo! Philo is designed to target the folks who don't care about these omissions. It's supposed to provide that non-news, non-sports network TV goodness: reality shows, sitcoms, dramas, movies, and more. So if you're going to subscribe to Philo, the question to ask isn't what Philo doesn't have – it's what channels does Philo have?

Aside from the aforementioned exceptions, Philo's channel selection is pretty comprehensive. From history to sitcoms to dramas, you'll have a lot to choose from. Though ESPN is nowhere to be found, other skinny bundle staples – like AMC and HGTV – are present and accounted for. On the other hand, a couple of familiar channels that air occasional sports, like TBS and TNT, are missing due to Philo's anti-sports position.

Philo's channel selection

Still, the selection is solid. You'll find Viacom channels like Comedy Central and MTV on Philo, which is more than some competitor skinny bundles can say. You can get even more channels by upgrading to Philo's larger bundle. Don't worry: it's still astoundingly cheap by the standards of most skinny bundle services (for more on that, check out our How much does Philo cost? section).

Here's a quick summary of some of Philo's channel selection highlights:

AMC

Animal Planet

Comedy Central

Discovery

Food Network

HGTV

MTV

Nickelodeon

TLC

Philo's two channel bundles include 44 and 57 channels, respectively. For more on what channels you can get with Philo, check out our Philo channel list.

What Devices Can I Use to Watch Philo?

Streaming live TV is great, but nobody wants to use a streaming service that doesn't let them watch their content on their television and their other favorite streaming platforms and devices. Philo came along a bit late in the game compared to some of its competitors, and there's no denying that it lags behind a little bit in terms of platform support. But Philo has done a solid job of building out new apps and expanding its platform support since its launch date. Here are the devices that you can use to stream Philo today.

Streaming platforms and devices

Apple TV

Fire TV

Roku

Mobile devices

iOS

Android

Other

In-browser app (Mac and Windows)

Chromecast is not on this list, because Philo does not offer native support for Chromecast in its apps for iOS, Android, or other platforms. But it's worth noting that you can still watch Philo on Chromecast by doing things like casting your browser tab in Chrome or casting your entire screen on an Android device. It's not as elegant as in-app Chromecast support, but it should tide some Chromecast users over until Philo adds full Chromecast support to its apps.

Keep in mind that, as a relatively new service, Philo is still developing new apps and features. Check back in on our Philo guide from time to time to see if Philo's platform support expands – we certainly expect it to.

How Much Does Philo Cost?

Philo's claim to fame is its low price. Skinny bundles always aim to undercut cable and satellite packages, but Philo takes things a step further by actually undercutting other skinny bundles. No other skinny bundle can compete with Philo's prices: its two base bundles cost just $16 per month and $20 per month, respectively. The marginally pricier bundle offers more channels than the cheaper one.

That's pretty much it: unlike other skinny bundles, Philo doesn't offer add-ons that can increase the price of its bundles.

Deals on Philo

Philo is already a pretty great deal, but that doesn't mean that we're not always on the lookout for ways to save you even more money. Keep use bookmarked to find out the latest deals and promotions on Philo.

One Philo promotion that's always active is the service's free trial offer – so let's talk about that next!

Getting a Philo Free Trial

One way to save money on Philo is always available. It's the free trial offer, which is as good as the ones offered by Philo's many competitors. Philo will let you test-drive its live TV streaming service for a week, risk-free. If you decide it isn't for you, no problem: just cancel before your free trial period is up and you won't pay a dime.

Philo Contracts

Contracts? With a skinny bundle? No, we don't think so. Philo is strictly a month-to-month commitment; you can cancel at any time and have your subscription wrap up at the end of your current billing period. If you don't cancel, Philo will simply auto-renew your current subscription. You'll be billed for the upcoming month (that's your “billing period”), and the cycle will continue – until you cancel, of course.

This means that if you cancel right after you're billed, you have Philo service for the rest of the month (but won't get your money for this month back). You'll never be billed again after you cancel. If you cancel during the free trial period you will, of course, not be charged at all.

How to Cancel Philo

Philo is a great choice for lots of people, but it's not for everyone. If you're ready to part ways with the service, you're going to want to know how to cancel Philo. Here's how to go about it.

There's nothing too tricky going on here. Just head to Philo's website and sign in. Head to the Account page and scroll down. You should spot a Cancel my account button at the bottom of the page. Click that and then confirm your decision in the obvious ways.

All About Philo

Philo is a really interesting skinny bundle option. Its market-beating prices and its innovative strategy for making those prices profitable could have a huge impact on the future of streaming and cord-cutting. So, naturally, we're all over it here at Cordcutting.com. You'll find tons of coverage of Philo on our site, including in the stories that we've linked to on this page. For more, just type “Philo” into our search bar or check our home page regularly. You can count on us for the latest news, tips, how-tos, and more, both about Philo and about the cord cutting world at large.